Monitoring voltage levels on power lines and recloser operation

ABSTRACT

An electrical power distribution system comprises recloser monitors that monitor power line voltages to thereby whether reclosers are open or closed. The recloser monitors report the voltages and associated times to a remote recipient, such as by cell phone. Momentary voltage drops that do not result in a power outage are reported as well. At least some of the recloser monitors are carried by power poles and desirably comprise weather stations for reporting localized weather conditions. The overall efficiency and reliability of the power distribution system is improved by allowing for more rapid identification of outage locations and proactive repair of power system components prior to actual outages.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/555,219, entitled “MONITORING VOLTAGE LEVELS ON POWER LINES ANDRECLOSER OPERATION”, filed Nov. 26, 2014, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/909,925, entitled MONITORINGVOLTAGE LEVELS ON POWER LINES, filed on Nov. 27, 2013. Theseapplications are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

A typical electrical distribution system is made up of transmissionlines that deliver electrical power to substations which in turn providethe power to various feeder or power distribution lines. These powerlines can be above ground, such as supported by power poles and thelike, or underground. Transformers are used to step down the voltage fordelivery to residences and other customers at appropriate voltagelevels. It is conventional for reclosers to be provided at variouspoints along power distribution lines. A recloser or switch operates toremove the line from the distribution system when a fault occursdownstream from the recloser. Conventional reclosers can open and closein response to a momentary fault and reopen again if the fault remainson the line. Opening and closing of the reclosers can happen a number oftimes before the recloser remains in an open circuit position. Reclosersare also known that count their open and closing cycles.

Historically power companies have relied on customers calling in to autility to report a power outage. A repair crew would then be sent by adispatcher to the location indicated by the caller. When at thelocation, the crew would look for a cause of the outage, such as a treefalling over and taking out power lines. It can be difficult todetermine where an outage has occurred from call-in information as theoutage may be in the customer's private service line or elsewhereupstream in the distribution network.

It is often more difficult to locate the source of momentary outages,particularly momentary outages that are intermittent. In fact,intermittent momentary outages that do not cause the recloser to remainopen are often never reported to a power company. Furthermore, powercompanies in the past typically had no way to know when rural customerswere experiencing excessive momentary outages unless and untilcomplaints from such customers started to accumulate. When thathappened, a utility worker would typically drive out, read the counterson the various reclosers in the area of the customers (the countersindicating how many times the reclosers had opened and closed). Theexisting new count on the reclosers would then be compared to a previouscount, that may have been months earlier. The differences would betallied and reclosers with the most reclose operations were thenconsidered to be the zone in the distribution network causing theproblem. Sometimes the correct area was identified; sometimes it wasn't.

Therefore, a need exists for an improved apparatus and system, as wellas associated methods, for identifying power outages, includingmomentary outages that may be happening intermittently. A need alsoexists for a power distribution system in which the location of outagesare more easily located.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one aspect of this disclosure, monitoring devices foran electrical distribution system are provided for assisting in locatingthe source of outages in the electrical distribution system. Themonitors are desirably low cost and capable of monitoring the electricaldistribution system for both momentary and sustained outages.

As another desirable aspect, the monitoring devices can be provided witha mechanism for accurately determining the time when power went off andalso desirably if, and when, power was turned on. In one approach, thepower on/off data is accurately time stamped to allow the determinationof the time of the outage for later analysis. The data indicative of theoutages and time is transmitted to a processing location, such as acentrally located computer. The computer analyzes the data anddetermines the location and times of outages. This data can be used bydispatchers who, in response to the data, can send repair crews to thelocation of the faults. The positions of individual monitors can beidentified by associating identifiers for particular monitors withparticular geographic location (such as power pole numbers mapped tospecific locations or residence addresses) when the monitors areinstalled. In the event an outage is detected by a monitor, the monitorrelays information concerning the identification of the monitor andoutage, along with timing information used to generate a time stamp forthe outage, via a communication link such as a phone line (e.g., alandline or cell phone) to a processing location, such as a centralcomputer coupled to the various monitors positioned throughout theelectrical distribution system.

To prevent interference with the use of a telephone landline by a user,in one embodiment the monitor can have an off the hook detectionmechanism for determining when the user is using the telephone and thusthe telephone line is not available for transmission of outage relateddata without interfering with the user's use of the telephone. Themonitoring device can determine when the phone is returned to the hook(and thus is available for data transmission) and send the data underthese conditions. The monitoring device can determine the time of theoutage and the time the telephone was off the hook and provide a timestamp, or other time delay indicating information, from which the timeof the outage can be determined. For example, the current time when thephone was placed back on the hook can be adjusted by subtracting thetime off the hook to backtrack to the time the outage took place. Thistime determination can be accomplished by the monitor or more desirablyby a remote central processor receiving information from plural monitorsdistributed throughout the system.

The landline monitors can be placed at a plurality, at a majority or atsubstantially all of the residences or end user locations connected to adistribution system to provide an indication of which residences are outof power. This can be used to identify and prioritize outage repair.However, the use of landline transmission of data is becoming moreproblematic as more and more households switch to cell phone use only.In addition, limiting the locations of monitors to places where alandline is present in many instances positions the monitors atsubstantial distances from reclosers located on feeder lines and furtherup the distribution system from end user landline locations.

Consequently, in a second embodiment, in addition to or instead oflandline monitors, wireless communicating monitors, such as cell phonecommunicating monitors, can also be provided. These cell phonecommunicating monitors can be placed downstream from a plurality of, amajority of or substantially all of the reclosers in the system.

Desirably, a monitor is provided downstream in the distribution systemfrom each recloser in the system. The term recloser encompasses otherprotective devices, such as switches and fuses, as well as conventionalreclosers.

Cell phone embodiments of monitors can be placed on power poles and thelike at locations adjacent to or proximate to reclosers for reportingthe opening and closing of such reclosers to thereby provide anindication of sustained outages as well as momentary outages. Thecircuitry for such monitoring devices can be powered from transformerscoupled to the wires of the distribution system. In addition, with cellphone coverage, the monitors still function for a time if provided withbackup power, such as from a battery or discharging capacitor, so thatthey can send their outage indicating data signals even if the powerlines associated with the monitor have been taken down, such as byfalling debris.

In addition, as an aspect of an embodiment, the monitors can comprise amechanism for determining environmental conditions, such as wind speed,wind direction, wind gust speed and ambient temperature. This data canbe correlated with outages to assist in determining the source of suchoutages. For example, momentary outages occurring only when wind gustsexceed a particular threshold from a particular direction provide anindication that a tree branch may be blowing across a power line undersuch conditions and then springing back off the power lines.

It should be noted that the monitoring devices are not limited to thedevices which are mounted to power poles in close proximity toreclosers. That is, they can be used at various locations in the powerdistribution system and can be used to monitor underground power lines,such as at or approximate to transformers where reclosers are located.

Data captured by the remote monitoring devices can be sent to a serverthat records or loads this information into a database. A remotemonitoring device typically tracks the start and duration of the outageevent. The monitoring device synchs these events with the server. Theserver can then calculate the actual time of an event from event timestamps so that distribution events (outages for example) can becorrelated back to the real time the events occurred. Examples of outagecausing events include transmission outages, switching caused outages,and outages from lightning strikes. The monitoring system also canprovide accurate validation of protective device coordination such as,for example, the responses of various reclosers in the system along aparticular feeder and distribution lines that can be evaluated forproper sequential operation.

In an alternative approach, one or more of the monitoring devices candetermine the time of event information and transmit this informationalong with the duration of the event to the server. Thus, the time theevent started, the duration of the event, and the time the event endedcan be sent to the server with time adjustments being made by themonitoring devices instead of the server.

In the event power is out, the monitoring devices can automaticallyreport information on the outage to the server. Data can be sentperiodically, such as over short time intervals with every few secondsbeing an example. Alternatively, the monitors can be queried, forexample, periodically, for outage information. A display can providedisplay outage location information to dispatch operators and can beupdated, such as every 60 to 90 seconds. The dispatchers, based upon thedisplay, can assign crews to respond and repair power outages evenbefore customers begin calling in to report the repairs.

As pointed out above, momentary interruptions can be captured by thedevice and reported back to a remote server, for example. The devicescan be time stamped in time intervals, such as every ten milliseconds toprovide a ten millisecond resolution. This allows the extraction ofsequence event information from the distribution system at a fine levelof granularity. Again, the sequence of events allows verification of thecoordination or miss-coordination of upstream and downstream protectivedevices such as reclosers. Miss-coordination can often result inunnecessary outages for customers. Once discovered through a powerdistribution system including monitoring devices as disclosed herein,distribution engineers can address and correct these miss-coordinationproblems to improve customer reliability and satisfaction.

Trip counts of reclosers, that is the number of recloser operations, canbe determined by evaluating the outage captured by the devices. Thisallows dispatchers and the utility to respond to areas that have morethan an expected number of momentary operations of reclosers and makenecessary repairs. This can save customers from experiencing a sustainedinterruption as the utility can proactively address momentary outageproblems before they become sustained outages. In addition, thisproactive ability to identify potential sustained outages in advance cansave the utility from having to make emergency repairs of a lateroccurring sustained outage outside of normal operating hours duringwhich overtime and other costs are higher.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, in connection withlandline monitors, houses or businesses that have meters with meterbases near a phone service box (which is commonly the case) can beidentified. The phone landline owner can be contacted for permission touse the phone line for power outage monitoring. A separate 800 number orother dedicated number can be utilized to eliminate charges to thecustomer. If the monitor detects an outage when the landline telephoneis in use, desirably the monitor can be operated to wait for the phoneline to be free before placing the outage call to the central server tothereby minimize impact on the customer.

Telephone landline based monitors located only at customer meters cannotdistinguish between outages on primary distribution system lines and thesecondary service or drop lines leading to the customer's premises.Outages that originate on the customer's service line would be reportedby such a monitor and could be interpreted as a wider area outage.Outages could also be reported incorrectly if the customer's power isshut off, for example, for nonpayment of a bill or because the customerhas moved out, or because of remodeling or other construction. Theseintentional outages can be addressed by entering data corresponding tosuch intentional events into a central database of the system so thatthe report of an outage is evaluated and ignored if due to one of theseintentional non-fault indicating events. Also, an interruption in datafrom a landline monitor, which may indicate an outage, can be due to thecustomer shutting off phone line service in favor of a cell phone. Also,a cable television company or phone company can occasionally disconnecta landline from a customer's phone circuit. If disabling of a landlineoccurs and is identified as a source, data from the associated monitorcan be ignored.

Although cell phone monitors can be used adjacent to a power end user'sresidence or location, cell phone monitors also allow monitoring atlocations spaced from the end user's premises. In areas where cell phonecoverage is spotty or nonexistent, landline monitors can alternativelybe used. Desirably, both types of monitors can be used in a system.

Cell phone monitors facilitate more accurate monitoring of thedistribution system and also can be used to capture additionalinformation to help correlate outages to their causes. For example,minimum voltage, maximum voltage, average voltage, ambient temperatures,average wind speed, maximum wind speed (gusts) and the direction of thewind at installation locations can be logged. This allows the utility tocapture real values during a storm to more directly correlate weatherrelated outages. Power distribution systems are designed to specificwind loading criteria. Information on wind caused outages can facilitateadjustments to the system at locations where outages have occurred thatshould not have occurred during a particular storm (e.g., the system ina particular area can be made stronger and more wind resistant ifunexpected gusts occur locally where the monitor is located).

Data from weather stations that are positioned at locations that areremote from (not proximate to) power lines, and from reclosers, do notprovide a true picture of the local weather at the location of amonitor. More accurate correlations between outages and environmentalconditions can be achieved with power distribution systems with pluraldispersed monitors with environmental sensors such as weather stations.Weather monitoring can be used for other purposes as well, such as todetermine when cloud seeding is viable. Localized weather informationfrom power pole located monitors also can be used to provide a real timewind speed and direction indication for use in forecasting powergeneration from wind farms connected to the transmission anddistribution lines having the monitors. An increase in the number ofweather stations at outage monitoring devices in a distribution system,especially at locations in the path of a wind farm, improves theaccuracy of determining when wind farms should be activated or shutdown.

In accordance with an embodiment, an electrical power distributionsystem for distributing electrical power through power transmissionlines is disclosed and can comprise:

a power line distribution section comprising first and second powerlines supported along their length by a plurality of spaced apart powerpoles, a plurality of such power poles carrying transformers that arecoupled to the power lines to provide secondary power to end users ofpower, the distribution section comprising a plurality of reclosers ineach of the first and second power lines carried by respective powerpoles, the reclosers being positioned at plural locations along thelength of the first and second power lines, an upstream recloser being arecloser that is closer to a source of power for a specific location inthe distribution system where voltage is being monitored and adownstream recloser being a recloser that is further from the source ofpower for the specific location at which voltage is being monitored, thereclosers being operable to shift between a closed state in whichelectric current flows through the recloser and an open state in whichelectric current does not flow through the recloser; a plurality ofrecloser status monitors for each of the first and second power linesand carried by respective power poles, the recloser status monitors eachcomprising a voltage monitoring circuit comprising a first input coupledto the first power line and a first voltage output at which a firstvoltage output signal is provided that corresponds to the voltage at thefirst power line and thereby to the open and closed status of a recloserthrough which current flows to the location where voltage of the firstpower line is being monitored by the voltage monitoring circuit, thevoltage monitoring circuit comprising a second input coupled to thesecond power line and a second voltage output at which a second voltageoutput signal is provided that corresponds to the voltage at the secondpower line and thereby to the open and closed status of a recloserthrough which current flows to the location where voltage of the secondpower line is being monitored by the voltage monitoring circuit, therecloser status monitor comprising a microcontroller comprising a firstvoltage receiving input coupled to the first voltage output and a secondvoltage receiving input coupled to the second voltage output, themicrocontroller providing voltage data signals corresponding to thefirst and second voltage output signals over time and time dataassociated with the voltage output signals, the voltage output signalsindicating the open or closed status of the reclosers that are upstreamfrom the location at which voltage is being monitored by the voltagemonitoring circuit, and the recloser status monitor also comprising acellphone circuit having an input coupled to the microcontroller and tothe direct current voltage output, the cellphone circuit being operablein response to the control signal from the microcontroller to place acellphone call to a recipient location and to transmit the voltage datasignals and the time data to the recipient location.

As an aspect of an embodiment, each of the recloser status monitors cancomprise a power circuit comprising a transformer having an input forcoupling to at least one of the first and second power lines so as toreceive power from said at least one of the first and second powerlines; the transformer having a first alternating current output, thepower circuit comprising a first full wave rectifier coupled to thetransformer outlet and operable to convert the first alternating currentoutput to a direct current voltage output; the voltage monitoringcircuit, the microcontroller, and the cell phone each being coupled tothe direct current voltage output.

As yet another aspect, the voltage monitoring circuit can comprise anRMS voltage circuit and wherein the first and second voltage outputscorrespond to the RMS voltage over time at the respective first andsecond power lines.

As a further aspect, at least one of the recloser status monitorscarried by a power pole can comprise a weather station having ananemometer operable to measure wind speed, the weather station having aweather data output at which wind speed signals representing themeasured wind speed are provided, the microcontroller comprising aweather data input coupled to the weather data output, themicrocontroller providing wind speed indicating data corresponding tothe wind speed signals, and thereby to the measured wind speed overtime, the cellphone circuit also being operable to transmit the windspeed indicating data to the recipient location.

As still another aspect, the wind speed indicating data also cancomprise wind gust data.

As yet another aspect, the weather station can have a wind vane operableto measure wind directions, the weather station having a weather dataoutput at which wind direction signals representing the measured winddirection are provided, the microcontroller providing wind directionindicating data corresponding to the wind direction signals, and therebyto the measured wind direction over time, the cellphone circuit alsobeing operable to transmit the wind direction indicating data to therecipient location.

Also, as an aspect, the weather station can comprise an ambienttemperature detector operable to measure the ambient temperature,ambient temperature signals representing the measured ambienttemperature being provided at the weather data output and thereby to themicrocontroller, the microcontroller providing ambient temperatureindicating data corresponding to the ambient temperature signals andthereby to the measured ambient temperature over time, the cellphonecircuit also being operable to transmit the ambient temperatureindicating data to the recipient location.

In accordance with another embodiment, an apparatus is disclosed formonitoring and reporting the operation of reclosers in an electricalpower distribution system having power lines that are opened and closedby the reclosers. The apparatus can comprise: a power circuit comprisinga transformer having an input for coupling to the power lines so as toreceive power from the power lines; the transformer having a firstalternating current output, the power circuit comprising a first fullwave rectifier coupled to the transformer outlet and operable to convertthe first alternating current output to a direct current voltage output;a recloser status monitor coupled to the direct current voltage outputand to one of the power lines, the recloser status monitor comprising avoltage monitoring circuit coupled to said one of the power lines, thevoltage monitoring circuit having a voltage output at which a voltageoutput signal is provided that corresponds to the voltage at said one ofthe power lines, the recloser status monitor having a power inputcoupled to the direct current voltage output; a microcontroller having avoltage receiving input coupled to the voltage output, themicrocontroller providing voltage data signals corresponding to thevoltage output signals over time and time data associated with thevoltage output signals, the voltage output signals indicating the openor closed status of the recloser, the microcontroller being coupled tothe direct current voltage output, and the microcontroller providing acellphone control signal; and a cellphone circuit having an inputcoupled to the microcontroller and to the direct current voltage output,the cellphone circuit being operable in response to the control signalfrom the microcontroller to place a cellphone call to a recipientlocation and to transmit the voltage data signals and the time data tothe recipient location.

As another aspect of the immediately preceding embodiment, the voltagemonitoring circuit can comprise an RMS voltage circuit and wherein thevoltage output corresponds to the RMS voltage over time at said one ofthe power lines.

As yet another aspect, the embodiment can further comprise a weatherstation having an anemometer operable to measure wind speed, the weatherstation having a weather data output at which wind speed signalsrepresenting the measured wind speed are provided, the microcontrollercomprising a weather data input coupled to the weather data output, themicrocontroller providing wind speed indicating data corresponding tothe wind speed signals, and thereby to the measured wind speed overtime, the cellphone circuit also being operable to transmit the windspeed indicating data to the recipient location. The wind speedindicating data can also comprise wind gust data. In addition, theweather station can also have a wind vane operable to measure winddirections, the weather station having a weather data output at whichwind direction signals representing the measured wind direction areprovided, the microcontroller providing wind direction indicating datacorresponding to the wind direction signals, and thereby to the measuredwind direction over time, the cellphone circuit also being operable totransmit the wind direction indicating data to the recipient location,wherein the weather station further comprises an ambient temperaturedetector operable to measure the ambient temperature, ambienttemperature signals representing the measured ambient temperature beingprovided at the weather data output and thereby to the microcontroller,the microcontroller providing ambient temperature indicating datacorresponding to the ambient temperature signals and thereby to themeasured ambient temperature over time, the cellphone circuit also beingoperable to transmit the ambient temperature indicating data to therecipient location.

As a further aspect, the monitoring and reporting apparatus can bemounted to and/or carried by, and thereby in combination with, a powerpole of an electrical power distribution system and wherein theapparatus is mounted to an upper end portion of the power pole. Theapparatus can be mounted to a power pole at a location downstream from arecloser and coupled to the power line controlled by the recloser tomeasure the voltage on such power line at a location downstream of saidrecloser.

As a further aspect, the apparatus further can comprise a backup batterycircuit for coupling to the power lines, the backup battery circuitcomprising a backup battery power output coupled to the recloser statusindicating current, coupled to the weather station current, coupled tothe microcontroller and to the cellphone circuit.

In accordance with a still further embodiment, an electrical powerdistribution system for distributing electrical power through powertransmission lines comprises: a power line distribution sectioncomprising first and second power lines supported along their length bya plurality of spaced apart power poles, a plurality of such power polescarrying transformers that are coupled to the power lines to providesecondary power to end users of power, the distribution sectioncomprising a plurality of reclosers in each of the first and secondpower lines carried by respective power poles, the reclosers beingpositioned at plural locations along the length of the first and secondpower lines, an upstream recloser being a recloser that is closer to asource of power for a specific location in the distribution system wherevoltage is being monitored and a downstream recloser being a recloserthat is further from the source of power for the specific location atwhich voltage is being monitored, the reclosers being operable to shiftbetween a closed state in which electric current flows through therecloser and an open state in which electric current does not flowthrough the recloser; a plurality of recloser status monitors for eachof the first and second power lines and carried by respective powerpoles, the recloser status monitors each comprising a voltage monitoringcircuit comprising a first input coupled to the first power line and afirst voltage output at which a first voltage output signal is providedthat corresponds to the voltage at the first power line and thereby tothe open and closed status of a recloser through which current flows tothe location where voltage of the first power line is being monitored bythe voltage monitoring circuit, the voltage monitoring circuitcomprising a second input coupled to the second power line and a secondvoltage output at which a second voltage output signal is provided thatcorresponds to the voltage at the second power line and thereby to theopen and closed status of a recloser through which current flows to thelocation where voltage of the second power line is being monitored bythe voltage monitoring circuit, the recloser status monitor comprising amicrocontroller comprising a first voltage receiving input coupled tothe first voltage output and a second voltage receiving input coupled tothe second voltage output, the microcontroller providing voltage datasignals corresponding to the first and second voltage output signalsover time and time data associated with the voltage output signals, thevoltage output signals indicating the open or closed status of thereclosers that are upstream from the location at which voltage is beingmonitored by the voltage monitoring circuit, and the recloser statusmonitor also comprising a cellphone circuit having an input coupled tothe microcontroller and to the direct current voltage output, thecellphone circuit being operable in response to the control signal fromthe microcontroller to place a cellphone call to a recipient locationand to transmit the voltage data signals and the time data to therecipient location; wherein the each of the recloser status monitorscomprises a power circuit comprising a transformer having an input forcoupling to at least one of the first and second power lines so as toreceive power from said at least one of the first and second powerlines; the transformer having a first alternating current output, thepower circuit comprising a first full wave rectifier coupled to thetransformer outlet and operable to convert the first alternating currentoutput to a direct current voltage output; the voltage monitoringcircuit, the microcontroller, and the cell phone each being coupled tothe direct current voltage output; wherein the voltage monitoringcircuit comprises an RMS voltage circuit and wherein the first andsecond voltage outputs correspond to the RMS voltage over time at therespective first and second power lines; wherein at least one of therecloser status monitors carried by a power pole further comprises aweather station having an anemometer operable to measure wind speed, theweather station having a weather data output at which wind speed signalsrepresenting the measured wind speed are provided, the microcontrollercomprising a weather data input coupled to the weather data output, themicrocontroller providing wind speed indicating data corresponding tothe wind speed signals, and thereby to the measured wind speed overtime, the cellphone circuit also being operable to transmit the windspeed indicating data to the recipient location; and wherein the weatherstation has a wind vane operable to measure wind directions, the weatherstation having a weather data output at which wind direction signalsrepresenting the measured wind direction are provided, themicrocontroller providing wind direction indicating data correspondingto the wind direction signals, and thereby to the measured winddirection over time, the cellphone circuit also being operable totransmit the wind direction indicating data to the recipient location.

As another aspect of the preceding embodiment, the weather station canalso comprise an ambient temperature detector operable to measure theambient temperature, ambient temperature signals representing themeasured ambient temperature being provided at the weather data outputand thereby to the microcontroller, the microcontroller providingambient temperature indicating data corresponding to the ambienttemperature signals and thereby to the measured ambient temperature overtime, the cellphone circuit also being operable to transmit the ambienttemperature indicating data to the recipient location.

Exemplary embodiments of monitors and their positioning in an electricaldistribution system are provided below. These are examples only and donot limit the scope of the inventive features and method acts set forthherein. The invention is directed toward all novel and non-obviousfeatures of monitors and electrical distribution systems with suchmonitors disclosed herein, both individually and in all possiblecombinations and sub-combinations thereof. The invention is alsodirected toward all novel and non-obvious combinations andsub-combinations of method acts disclosed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a portion of a power distributionsystem 10.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a portion of a distribution systemshown in FIG. 1 in which an event has occurred that has caused one ormore reclosers to operate to an open state.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a portion of the distribution system shownin FIG. 1 illustrating an exemplary fault causing event that occurred ata different location in the power distribution system than the place ofthe event causing fault in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3A shows a section of an electrical power distribution systemhaving a plurality of power poles carrying transmission lines and with anumber of recloser monitors (SGMs) positioned on various power poles andat other locations in the system.

FIG. 4A illustrates an upper portion of a power pole carrying powerdistribution lines with reclosers in such lines and illustrating anexemplary smart grid monitor (SGM) shown mounted to an upper end portionof the power pole proximate to or adjacent to the power lines. Theillustrated smart grid monitor tracks the voltage in the respectivepower lines, and thereby the operation of the associated reclosers aswell as reporting such conditions and timing information, such as viacellphone.

FIG. 4B illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary SGM of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4C illustrates an exemplary power supply circuit of the SGM of FIG.4B.

FIG. 4D is a circuit schematic of an exemplary voltage detection circuitfor monitoring the voltage in an associated power line.

FIG. 4E illustrates an exemplary microcontroller used in the SGMembodiment of FIG. 4A. Exemplary pseudo code describing the steps thatcan be carried out by the programmed microcontroller is set forth inpseudo code listings found in the application.

FIG. 4F is an exemplary circuit of the SGM for providing power to acellphone circuit of the exemplary SGM of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4H is an exemplary backup battery circuit that can be used toprovide power to the SGM in the event power is unavailable from thetransmission line for the SGM, or otherwise when the use of backup poweris desired.

FIG. 4I illustrates an exemplary charging circuit for charging batteriesincluded in the battery backup of FIG. 4H.

FIG. 4G is an exemplary cellphone circuit that can be included in theSGM of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4J illustrates an exemplary weather station with associated sensorsfor collecting data on environmental conditions that can affect poweroutages and the operation of the reclosers.

FIG. 4K illustrates a circuit for providing a reference voltage usablein the system as well as an internal temperature of circuits in the SGM,indicative of potential circuit failure problems.

FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate an exemplary landline or telephone version of anSGM. The circuit shown in FIG. 5A is an example of a circuit fordetecting power line voltages and thereby outages. FIG. 5B illustratesexemplary circuitry of a landline SGM embodiment including amicroprocessor for transmitting the voltage and outage information forcontrolling the transmission of voltage and outage information to arecipient, such as to a remote recipient computer at a power companycentral headquarters. FIGS. 5C and 5D illustrate an exemplary circuit ofthe exemplary landline SGM utilizing a telephone line to provide datasignals to the remote computer.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an exemplary power grid monitoring systemwith a cellphone based SGM monitor.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an exemplary power grid monitoring systemwith a phone line version of thane SGM monitor; it being understood thata system in accordance with this disclosure can have both landline andcellphone versions of SGM's, with or without environmental conditiongathering components.

FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate an exemplary system architecture utilizing SGM'sin accordance with this disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates information from a recloser event involving two tripclosings of a recloser followed by a recloser lockout.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a single-phasing recloser event and thedata captured by an SGM in association with this event.

FIG. 11 illustrates an event file obtained from a recloser data logstored in the recloser and illustrates the limited information availablefrom data loggers included in certain types of reclosers.

FIG. 12 illustrates further information available from an examination ofthe recloser data log and illustrating the actual recloser wave forms ina schematic fashion.

FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate RMS values and phasor rotations for twocycles of recloser operation shown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is a screen shot illustrating the occurrence of a recloserarming event available from the recloser data log.

FIG. 16 illustrates data from recloser data log that illustrates theinterruption of current through the recloser associated with the datalog.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a cellphone enabled SGM that includesenvironmental condition components for measuring and reporting weatherdata together with recloser events.

FIG. 18 is a graph illustrating enhanced momentary outage detection bythe exemplary SGM.

FIG. 19 is a graph illustrating a comparison of measured voltages inresponse to an actual event on a power distribution system.

FIG. 20 is a graph of a portion of Vmax trend data obtained from an SGM.

FIG. 21 is a graph of voltage wave forms during a capacitor switchingevent.

FIGS. 22 and 23 are graphs illustrating the association of wind speedswith an increase in outage activity in a power distribution system.

FIG. 24 is a graph illustrating the change in the probability of anoutage based on wind direction as determined by an SGM, the informationbeing obtained for a power grid being operated by Idaho Power Company.

FIG. 25 is a graph illustrating the probability of an outage based onambient temperature information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Throughout this disclosure, when a reference is made to a first elementbeing coupled to a second element, the term “coupled” is to be construedto mean both direct connection of the elements as well as indirectconnection of the elements by way of one or more additional interveningelements. Also, the singular terms “a”, “and”, and “first”, mean boththe singular and the plural unless the term is qualified to expresslyindicate that it only refers to a singular element, such as by using thephase “only one”. Thus, for example, if two of a particular element arepresent, there is also “a” or “an” of such element that is present. Inaddition, the term “and/or” when used in this document is to beconstrued to include the conjunctive “and”, the disjunctive “or”, andboth “and” and “or”. Also, the terms “includes” and “has” have the samemeaning as “comprises” and the terms “including” and “having” have thesame meaning as “comprising”.

FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a power distribution system 10comprising a sub-station 12 with first and second feeder lines 14, 16(also identified as F4 and F6). Power transmission lines leading to thesub-station 12 are not shown in FIG. 1.

Power is delivered from sub-station 12 to feeder 14 when a sub-stationswitch 20 is closed. In addition, power is delivered from sub-station 12to feeder 16 when a sub-station switch 22 is closed. Typically theseswitches 20, 22 remain closed, unless an alternative source of power isprovided to feeders F4 and F6, for example from a different directionnot shown in FIG. 1.

Feeder 14 has a plurality of reclosers. These reclosers include a firstrecloser 28 (R8) and a second recloser 30 (R7). For illustrativepurposes, a single end user of power (e.g., factory or residence) isshown downstream in feeder 14 from recloser R7, this end user beingindicated by the number 32. In addition, an end user 33 is shownelectrically connected to the feeder intermediate to reclosers 28, 30.This section of the feeder is indicated by the number 34. A portion offeeder section 34 is shown supported by a power pole 36. A transformer38 is shown carried by the power pole. In a typical distribution systemthere will be multiple power poles and associated transformers to feedpower to end users at an appropriate voltage stepped down from thefeeder voltage.

A number of monitoring devices are provided in the system. One or moresuch monitoring devices can be provided adjacent to or downstream fromeach of the reclosers. In addition, monitoring devices can be providedupstream from the reclosers as well. In connection with feeder 14, alandline type monitoring device 42 (S3) is shown downstream fromrecloser 30 adjacent to end user's location 36. Alternatively,monitoring device 42 can be a cell phone communicating monitor.

Another such monitoring device 44 (S2) is shown adjacent to transformer38, such as mounted to a power pole 36 and coupled to a transformer 38.The monitoring device 44 is provided with power from the transformer.Monitoring device 44 is downstream from recloser 28. An additionalmonitoring device can be provided between recloser 28 and end user 33 ifdesired. Yet another monitoring device 46 (S1) is shown between thefeeder switch 20 and the recloser 28.

Feeder F6 is shown with a single recloser 50 (R1). A monitoring device52 (S4), which again can be a cell phone type monitoring device 52 isshown adjacent to an underground transformer 54. Transformer 54 iselectrically coupled to the monitoring device 52 to provide power to themonitoring device. Transformer 54 is coupled to end users 56, 58 viarespective service power lines 60, 62. A monitoring device 64 (S5) isshown adjacent to end user location 56 and can be a landline connectedor cell phone monitoring device. Either type of monitoring device caninclude a weather station. Another monitoring device 66, which can belike device 64, is shown adjacent to end user 58. Another end user 70 isshown upstream of recloser 50. A monitoring device 68, which again canbe a power pole mounted, or otherwise positioned, monitor, is locatedbetween switch 22 and recloser 50.

One or more of the monitoring devices, and desirably the cell phoneactivated devices, are provided with an associated weather stationsensors indicated by the letter W next to monitoring device 68 and theletter W next to monitoring device 44. Again, one or more or all of themonitoring devices may have associated weather stations. However, thelandline devices that are located next to end users typically do notneed a weather station as they are often in sheltered areas. Thus, forexample, weather station W associated with monitoring device 44 on powerpole 36 is positioned to obtain localized environmental readings, suchas wind speed, wind gusts, wind direction and external temperature.Consequently, if there is an outage in feeder line section 34 of feeder14, the outage can be correlated with the weather information todetermine if weather affected the outage and whether corrections to thatsection of the power distribution system should be made in anticipationor in advance of future similar weather conditions.

With a system set up as shown in FIG. 1, momentary outages can becaptured by the various monitoring devices and used to indicate suchoutages and other information. Sustained outages can also be capturedand reported. The various monitoring devices can communicate via landtelephone lines (in the case of landline monitoring coupled devices) orvia cell phone (in the case of cell phone monitoring devices) or otherremote communication systems (e.g., satellite) to a central dataprocessing center that is remote from the monitoring stations. The datacan be evaluated to address sustained and momentary outage locations.

With reference to FIG. 2, which replicates a portion of the distributionsystem shown in FIG. 1, like numbers for like elements in both FIGS. 1and 2 have been assigned the same numbers in FIG. 2. In the example ofFIG. 2, assume a lightning strike 80 has occurred somewhere along feedersection 34, causing a power surge in this section. Alternatively, otherconditions can similarly cause problems in the distribution system, suchas a tree falling over a line or a car impacting and knocking over apower pole. As a result of the surge cause by lightning strike 80,recloser 28 and possibly recloser 30 both operate to open. As a result,end user locations 32 and 34 experience an outage. This outage isreported by both monitor 44 and monitor 42. As a result, the powercompany is aware of the outage. As an alternative, if a fault on feederF4 causes switch 20 to open, all of the zones monitored by monitor 42,44 and 46 in this case would be out of power, with the outage beingreported back to the central location by all three monitors. Inaddition, an alarm would conventionally be reported to the centrallocation due to the now open station breaker 20, as well. An outageevent that is reported by all three monitors is illustrated in FIG. 3 bya lightning strike 100 impacting feeder 14 between the feeder breaker 20and the recloser 28, causing the feeder breaker 20 to open and an outagein all the zones served by feeder 14. In FIG. 3, which also discloses aportion of the distribution system shown in FIG. 1, numbers for elementsin common with those in FIG. 1 have been given the same number forconvenience.

FIG. 3A illustrates a portion of an electrical power distribution systemhaving a power line 34A, and neutral 35 for a singlephase section of thepower distribution system. The power line 34A and neutral 35 are carriedby respective poles 36A, 36B, 36C, 36D and 36E as well as by other polesnot shown in FIG. 3A. The poles 36A, 36C and 36D carry respectivetransformers 38A, 38B and 38C. These transformers are coupled to theneutral and are each fed by power from power line 34A. Grid voltagemonitors, or SGMS, in accordance with this disclosure are indicated at44A, 44B and 44C carried by the respective power poles 36A, 36C and 36D.Another SGM 44D is shown mounted to a pad mount transformer 38D. Therespective SGMs 44A-44D are supplied with power, in this example, vialines 41A, 41B, 41C and 41D from the secondary side, such as fromsecondary taps, of the respective transformers 38A, 38B, 38C and 38D.Reclosers 81A are shown in 34A upstream from pole 36A, although thesereclosers could be carried by pole 36A. Similarly, recloser 81B is shownupstream of pole 36B, recloser 81C is shown upstream of pole 36C,recloser 81D is shown upstream of pole 36D, and recloser 81E is shownupstream of pole 36E.

In this example, there are a plurality of power poles in this section ofthe power distribution system, as well as plural transformers. Numerouspoles in a power line distribution section typically do not carrytransformers as transformers are typically located at locations alongthe length of the distribution system section where secondary power isprovided to an end user, such as to a residence or other location ofpower use. If the distribution system is a three-phase system,additional reclosers would be provided in the other phases. Also, twoand three transformer banks coupling three-phase power to users couldalso be used. In the above example, the power poles would be separated,such as a few hundred feet or more apart, with the ellipses ( . . . )between various power poles of this section of the distribution systemindicating other power pole locations. In addition, not all of the SGMsneed to comprise weather stations as typically SGMs having weatherstations are positioned substantial distances apart, such as five ormore miles apart. This, for example, SGM 44A may not comprise a weatherstation SGM whereas SGM 44B may comprise a weather station, and soforth. Typically there are a plurality of SGMs with weather stations ina distribution sub-system or section, such as for example SGMs 44B and44C having such weather stations. Also, the SGMs are typicallyconveniently located at a place in the system where a transformer islocated such that the SGMs can be coupled to the secondary side of thetransformers for voltage monitoring and for obtaining power foroperation of the SGMs. In addition, the reclosers may be located onpower poles upstream from the SGMs. FIG. 3A is simply one example of asection of a distribution system with SGMs in accordance with the FIGS.1, 2 and 3 electrical power distribution systems.

A power line distribution system can have smart meters that providemeter usage information to a central location. This works well forobtaining metering information from all areas of a distribution systemincluding remote areas. Smart meters are powered by power from powerlines connected thereto for communicating metered power usageinformation to a central location. As a result, when power is lost so isthe communication. This makes smart meters of this type unable to reportan outage or continuation of an outage until power is restored. Thesmart meters typically record and report back an outage message duringthe next meter read. However, in general, this is not prompt enough foraction to deal with repairing outages. Stand-alone outage monitors thatare independent of meter usage reporting meters offer a number ofadvantages.

The system can be implemented so as to automatically ping the variousrevenue meters (usage meters) after power is restored to receiveconfirmation of whether power is restored to the meter. This can be donewhile repair crews are on the scene to provide an alert if any of themeters do not respond to the ping; and thereby indicate possibleadditional outages that need to be repaired before a crew leaves anarea.

The automatic pinging of usage meters can be used to track momentaryoutages captured by the monitoring devices. When a monitoring devicereports an event, such as an intermittent outage, the server can send aping request to meters downstream from the outage, or proximate to theoutage. This will facilitate early outage detection for fused taps thatmay have lost power as a recloser or station breaker moves to itstripped open and closed states to clear momentary faults. Smart metersthat do not reply to these pings can be evaluated as possible additionaloutages.

By monitoring outages at reclosers, better feeder coordination can beachieved. From the outage data and time sequencing of outages (if timeis tracked to a sufficiently fine granularity), one can determine whendevices operate that should not have operated (e.g., going through areclose and open cycle) or that have a mis-timed operation. Often themis-coordination of reclosers along a feeder is due to reclosers andbreakers that sense conditions beyond the next protective (e.g.,downstream from the next recloser) zone. The diagnostic and coordinationof reclosers that is achievable with outage monitors of this disclosurereduces the number of outages and improves customer satisfaction.

The monitors also provide warnings when an area is experiencingexcessive momentary outages (excessive recloser operation). This can becaused by a tree impacting the line, debris from bird nests, brokenequipment, and so forth. Identifying the area of momentary outages andaddressing the momentary interruptions can prevent a subsequentsustained outage. In addition, repairs can be made during normalbusiness hours to reduce overtime costs associated with off hour outagerestorations.

The monitoring devices also facilitate faster response times to outagesdue to the early alert of outage conditions. In addition, informationabout the number or frequency of outages assists in identifying wheresystem repairs are more critical. As a result, a utility can targetrebuilds and repairs of power lines where most needed.

In a specific example involving monitors of this disclosure, onecustomer came to a utility and complained: “Every time I start my pumpthe power goes out.” The next day one of the inventors was out standingin the middle of the potato field with the customer. The customer said:“Watch this.” The customer then pressed the start button on a pump. Thepump started for a second and shut off. The customer then said: “Nowwatch this.” The customer pressed and held the pump start button, whichcaused the pump to start for a second, shut off for a second, start upfor two seconds, shut off for two seconds, then start and stay running.Every week the same thing was happening. The data reported from themonitoring devices showed that every week the feeder experienced severaltrip close operations that affected a few hundred customers. The causewas a new recloser that had been installed upstream from thesecustomers. It turned out that the size of the customer's pump was notaccurately noted on the distribution system, resulting in the newrecloser settings being set too low for the current inrush from thecustomer's pump.

As another example, a utility customer contacted a utility that employedthe inventor and stated: “Every other day at 3:30 my lights blink.” Withthe outage monitoring system it was verified that the customer was notexaggerating. For almost a month a recloser had been operating within afew minutes of the customer's complaint. An investigation was scheduledfor the next day and the inventor found an irrigation pivot end gunspraying directly onto the power distribution lines. Soon thereafter,the power lines flashed (shorted), the recloser opened, the irrigationpivot shut off, and the recloser closed back in. The pump, however, didnot restart because there was no auto restart on this particular pump.Nevertheless, the irrigation pivot kept walking into a part of the fieldthat looked like it hadn't been watered in a month because the drivemotor for the pivot restarted. The farmer who owned the field wastracked down. After the farmer finished complaining about how unreliablehis power was and that his field was drying up because he couldn't keepwater on it, he was informed that it was his pivot that was causing theproblems. The pivot settings were adjusted to solve the repetitivemomentary fault problem.

In one exemplary form, the monitors comprise voltage monitors thatmeasure the voltage on the low voltage load side of any transformerdownstream of a protective device such as a feeder breaker, recloser,sectionalizer, or fuse. If the voltage state changes from on to off, orfrom off to on, then the protective device has opened or closed andeither interrupted or restored power. The monitors (sometimes calledSGMs or Smart Grid Monitors) can capture and store these state changesin memory and then call a central server to report the incident. Thecall can be accomplished, for example, by a toll-free line using a builtin telephone transmitter circuit that accesses a land line. As anotheroption, the call can be accomplished using a built in cell phonecircuit. Other communication technologies can alternatively be used, butthe cell phone and land line approaches are the most desirable.

The telephone model (land line embodiment) can be mounted within a meterbase extender that is plugged into a customer's meter base just behindan electric revenue or usage meter. Desirably, with the customer'spermission, a telephone line is run from the SGM to the customer's sideof the customers' telephone service entrance box. Each breaker andrecloser on a distribution circuit desirably will have at least one SGMinstalled at any one or more of the customers within thebreaker/recloser zone of protection. The zone of protection for aprotective device refers to that portion of the electrical distributionsystem that is downstream (further from the power source for the feeder)of the protective device. Thus the power reliability record of breakerand recloser activity for all or substantially all customers providedwith power from a feeder is obtained if enough SGMs are used. Note thatby using the customer's existing telephone service the communicationcosts can be limited. Also, a dedicated line such as an 800 telephonenumber connected to a central server can be used to eliminate addedphone charges to the customer.

The cell phone model or embodiment can be installed independently of thecustomer and therefore has the advantage of being able to be used inareas where land line telephone service is either unavailable orunreliable. Additionally, the cell phone monitor version (and lessdesirably the land line version of monitor) can include a weatherstation that is designed to capture environmental conditions such aswind speed, gusts and direction, and ambient temperature. Also, thevoltage on power lines can be monitored continuously and can beretrieved periodically or on a near continuous basis. These addedmeasurements allow utilities to obtain a more complete analysis ofoutage events and power distribution system performance. Utility systemsare designed to withstand expected weather conditions. The SGM providessome evidence that outages are occurring when the design limits havebeen exceeded while reducing communication costs.

With either design the base station data processing system desirablycollects and interprets the incoming call data. The base station orcentral computerized processing system can comprise several modules,such as a “call taker” that answers incoming calls and records the rawdata and a call processor that then interprets the data and establishesan event time for the events (e.g., outages) found in the data. The datacan be stored in a data base that can easily be exported to a variety ofother software based systems or applications for analysis. A visualdisplay and associated interface that allows various utility companyemployees to readily view the reliability performance of any feeder'srecloser or breaker protection zones, such as down to a fine level ofgranularity, such as to one AC 60 Hertz cycle. Also, outages can beidentified quickly and quite possibly forwarded to a repair crewdispatcher before customers begin to call in to report the outage.

A unique advantage of these SGMs is their ability to capture and storemomentary outages. Customers do not typically call in to report theseevents as the power was not interrupted for more than a few seconds. Assuch, utilities are typically unaware of the number of momentary outageevents that take place on their system. Momentary outages can cause thedisruption of everything from alarm clocks to industrial manufacturingprocesses. As such, they are a major source of customer frustration andcan be a precursor to potential sustained interruptions.

FIGS. 4A-4K illustrate an exemplary embodiment of a circuit for an SGMmonitor utilizing a cell phone for communication purposes.

A power pole 36 is indicated schematically in FIG. 4A (for example,cross arms are eliminated) for carrying power lines 34 of an electricalpower distribution system. In this example, there are three such linescarried by pole 36 labeled 34A, 34B and 34C. These three lines carry therespective voltage phases of a three phase elevated power distributionsystem. A neutral wire is not shown in FIG. 4A for convenience. Thesevoltages are at a desired level for transmission and are stepped down,for example, by transformer 38 to a suitable level for furtherdistribution or use by a consumer.

There are three reclosers shown in FIG. 4A, one per phase, indicatedrespectively by the numbers 75A, 75B and 75C. These reclosers can becarried by power pole 36; but more typically would be carried by a powerpole upstream from power pole 36 to which an SGM 44 is mounted. The term“recloser” refers to devices technically called reclosers, as well as tocircuit breakers and fuses which interrupt the flow of current through apower line of the electrical power distribution system. Differentrecloser types are often used in different parts of an electrical powersystem. The SGM's can be used with the various recloser types.

An illustrated SGM 44 is shown mounted by a bracket 49 to the power pole36. Desirably when mounted to a power pole, the SGM is positioned at anupper end of the power pole adjacent to the respective power lines.Respective jumper cables 77A, 77B and 77C, coupled to the power lines34A, 34B and 34C, interconnect the SGM 44 to the respective power linesfor voltage monitoring. Alternatively, and more desirably, the jumperscan be coupled to secondary output taps or to conductors at thesecondary side of the transformer 38. This is illustrated schematicallyby dashed line 41 and secondary voltage taps 43. In one desirableapplication, the SGMs are coupled to one phase and the neutral in asingle phase system. There can be one such SGM per phase in a pluralphase distribution line. Also, as explained below, a single SGM can becoupled to the neutral and also have plural voltage monitoring circuits,each coupled to a respective phase of the distribution system that isbeing monitored. This results in voltage monitoring of the power in thepower lines as it is reflected to the secondary side of the transformer.In FIG. 4A, the load side of the particular section of the power line 34is indicated by L and the source side by S. The load and source sidescan be reversed depending upon where power is being fed to thisparticular section of the electrical power distribution lines. Inaddition, as distributed generation becomes more common (e.g., customerswith solar powered or other generation sources), some power can besourced from the downstream (L side of the system) as well as from theupstream or S side of the system. Desirably, the jumpers 77A, 77B and77C are coupled to the power lines downstream from the principle source,as additional information concerning the operation of the system can begleaned from voltage levels downstream of reclosers. In one desirableexample, the SGMs are located on a power pole at a location where thereis a service transformer downstream of the power pole carrying thereclosers and upstream of the next recloser.

An exemplary cellphone version of the SGM 44 is shown in FIG. 4B. Inthis example, the jumper 74A is coupled to a first recloser positiondetermining circuit 120A, the jumper 77B is coupled to a second recloserposition indicating circuit 120B and the third jumper cable 77C iscoupled to a third recloser position indicating circuit 120C. Thecircuits 120A, 120B and 120C can be the same as one another. Anexemplary circuit is indicated at 120 in FIG. 4D and is described below.The recloser circuits 120A, B and C monitor the voltage on theassociated power lines. The voltage level indicates whether the reclosershifts state, such as opens from a closed state, or momentarily changesstate without a sustained outage occurring. Information corresponding tothe voltage is fed via respective lines 121A, 121B and 121C from therespective recloser voltage detection circuits 120A, 120B and 120C to amicrocontroller 140. The timing of changes in state as well as thevoltage information can be transmitted to the controller. Alternatively,the controller can track the timing of events from the voltage signalsthat send information downstream, for example to a central computer at aremote location, such as at a utility company headquarters, forprocessing to assign a time stamp to each event (e.g., each time arecloser opens or closes, or the voltage drops below or rises abovedesired limits).

A cellphone circuit 160 coupled to the controller 140 operates inresponse to control signals to send data signals from an output 161 tothe remote computer or to a recipient location. The data signalsindicating the voltage levels and thereby the events. Substantially realtime information can be provided by the SGMs. A power circuit 170provides power to the cellphone circuit. The SGM also comprises a powersupply circuit indicated generally at 100 in FIG. 4B and described belowin connection with FIG. 4C. Circuit 100 comprises an input 101 coupledto the power lines, such as to the transformer 38 in the example of apower pole with a transformer. The power is processed to provide asuitable power output P (for example, DC power) for powering thecircuits of the SGM 44. In the event power goes down, for examplebecause of a fault in the system, it can be desirable that the SGMcontinue to provide data, at least for a period of time until power isrestored. For this reason, a battery backup circuit 171 can be providedto supply the power P in the event the power goes off. A chargingcircuit 173 coupled to the power source 101 maintains the batteries in acharged condition so they are available for use.

In one desirable embodiment, the SGM 44 comprises a weather station 189with associated sensors for collecting data on environmental factors andfor providing signals on a line 191 to the controller 140, such datasignals corresponding to the collected environmental data. For example,a temperature sensing circuit 180 can be provided for determining theambient temperature near the power lines. Also, wind speed detectors,such as an anemometer 197 and wind direction detectors, such as aweather vane 199 coupled to a weather detection circuit 190 providesdata along line 191 related to the wind speed and wind direction.

This weather information provides microclimate information on conditionsat the power pole 36 that can affect the reliability of the power lineand which allows for proactively changing the configuration of the powerline system at the location of the SGM, or in the vicinity thereof,based upon recloser events correlated to the weather conditions. Forexample, momentary closures short of a power outage can be determinedand reported. If it turns out that the momentary closures or flickersoccur when wind gusts exceed a particular magnitude or when speedsexceed a particular magnitude, an indication is provided that there is aproblem with a particular power line. For example, the wind when itreaches a certain level may be sufficient to blow branches across powerline wires that result in a momentary short current. The power companycan then, based on this determination and information, send out a powercrew to repair the power line (e.g., trim tree limbs) even though asustained outage has not yet occurred. In addition, ambient temperaturesnear a particular power line can be higher than expected (for example,the areas may be sheltered and surrounded by heat retaining rocks on ahillside). High temperatures can cause sagging of the wires leading torecloser action. SGM's without weather stations can be installed onpower poles as well. SGMs with weather stations can be, and aretypically, spaced apart in the system, such as about five or more milesapart. SGMs, with or without weather stations, can be positioneddownstream of each recloser location in the system. As an alternative,SGMs are not positioned downstream of each recloser.

In a desirable system, an SGM is provided adjacent to each recloser inan electrical power distribution system or grid so as to allow moreprecise monitoring of recloser operation throughout the entire system.Alternatively, the SGM's can be placed at selected locations, forexample adjacent to reclosers of a feeder where power problems have beenexperienced, to help locate the source of the problems as well asprovide an indication of impending problems in the future. SGM's can bepositioned at individual premises, although in such cases weatherstations would typically not be used as SGM's at individual locationsare typically located adjacent to a meter, which is often sheltered fromwind. As another alternative, SGM's can be spaced along a particularfeeder line or branch distribution power line, such as near every otherrecloser or every third recloser, as desired. In addition, such SGM'scan be installed in other locations, such as near reclosers intransformer vaults. For example, in the case of underground lines,cellphone enabled SGM lines can, for example, be mounted to a pole wherea service transformer is located.

In FIG. 4C, the circuit 100 provides DC power for the SGM monitor.Specifically, voltage V1 from a phase of a power line (such as at atransformer) and the neutral conductor of the power line is connected toa respective monitor transformer 102. The power is rectified by a fullwave rectifier 104 to produce a raw power (unregulated power) outputRPWR 106. A voltage regulator 108 regulates RPWR to produce a 5 volt DCPWR output. In addition, the V₁ and N lines are coupled to a secondtransformer 110. Power from the second transformer is rectified by afull wave rectifier 112 and coupled to respective first and secondvoltage regulators 114, 116. Regulator 114 produces an output P8 of plus12 volts. Regulator 116 produces an output P6 of minus 12 volts. Theseoutputs are used to power the monitor.

With reference to FIG. 4D, V₁ and N₁ lines are also connected to acircuit 120. The circuit 120 is designed to provide a signal indicatingthe on/off status of the recloser (whether the circuit is open orclosed) by determining the voltage level on the line V₁ so that themagnitude of the line voltage can be tracked. This circuit also, in thisexample, provides a signal representing the magnitude of the voltage online V₁. A similar circuit 120 and monitor is desirably provided foreach line of a plural phase transmission line set. In this way, each ofthe individual lines can be monitored for an outage. From the inputsignals V₁ and N, first and second op amps 122, 124 process the signalsfor delivery to an RMS chip 126, such as a U6 AD8436 chip. The RMSoutput signal from circuit 126 is fed via a pin 128 to an op amp 130which operates to smooth the signal. An LED optical isolator 132isolates the power signals from a direct connection to downstreamprocessing circuitry. Output 134 comprises a linear outputrepresentative of the AC voltage V₁. This signal is processed by an opamp 136 to provide a V1AD output signal 138 that corresponds to the V₁voltage.

With reference to FIG. 4E, the V1AD output signal is provided to aninput pin of a microcontroller 140. The microcontroller 140 can, forexample, comprise a PIC 18F 4550 microcontroller. The termmicrocontroller includes any type of processor suitably programmed tocarry out and control the functions of the SGM. A signal correspondingto V1AD is transmitted to a central processor, such as at a remotelocation (for example at a utility company headquarters) by way of acommunication link, such as via cell phone in this example, in responseto a cell enable signal CELL_EN from the microprocessor 140 to a cellpower circuit 170 (FIG. 4F), and more specifically to the CELL_EN inputpin of this circuit 170. A CELL_VCC signal from the cell power circuit170 is then delivered to the CELL_VCC input of a cell phone circuit 160(FIG. 4G) to start a cell phone call to transmit data to the remotelocation. An exemplary cell phone circuit is a model MTSMC-C2-IP-N3-SPcircuit available from Multitech. In addition, the cell power circuit170 receives an input labeled BATTCHG from a battery charging circuit171 (FIG. 4H) to provide backup power for the operation of the cellphone if needed. The batteries of circuit 171 can be kept charged by abattery charging circuit 173 (FIG. 4I) that receives power RPWR from thecircuit of FIG. 4A. The circuits 171 and 173 can be voltage regulators.

The illustrated circuit SGM monitor of FIG. 4B also comprises, in thisexample, a weather station 189 (FIG. 4J) with associated sensors forcollecting data on environmental factors and providing signalscorresponding to such sensed data to the microprocessor 140. Althoughadditional environmental conditions can be monitored, in this example anexternal temperature probe circuit 180 senses the external (ambienttemperature) temperature and provides an output signal on a line 193 inthe form of a voltage reference XTEMP via a thermocouple to themicrocontroller input XTEMP (pin 10). A conventional weather stationcircuit 190 comprising an accompanying anemometer 197 and weathervane199 is also included in this example. Davis Instruments is onemanufacturer of suitable weather stations. The anemometer can open andclose a relay to provide an output signal indicative of the wind speedat 192 that is fed to a wind speed input (pin 42) of themicrocontroller. The wind speed indicating output signal is typicallyconditioned, such as by a pull up resistor to be compatible with themicroprocessor 140. The weather station power can be powered by circuit100 with backup power being provided by the battery backup circuit 171.In addition, the weather station 190 can comprise a weathervane thatprovides an indication of wind direction. In one embodiment, theweathervane slides a potentiometer as it moves to provide an output thatvaries with the wind direction, such as from zero to 5 volts DC. Thewind direction output 194 from station 190 is also provided to aWIND.DIR. input of microcontroller 140. Wind direction can be determinedwith reference to a first angle, such as from North. The various signalsare conditioned, such as by resistor networks to be at levels suitablefor the microcontroller.

In addition, the illustrated embodiment comprises a circuit 200, for,among other things, monitoring the temperature of the circuit boarditself and providing an output signal TEMP_I at an output 202 that isfed to the microcontroller. This can be used to diagnose failures of thecircuit board such as if the temperature rises above, for example, athreshold. In addition, a reference voltage Vref+ output 204 is alsoprovided from this circuit 200. These outputs are coupled to themicrocontroller. Various resister networks (e.g., 205 in FIG. 4K) areused for pulling up voltages to desired levels. In addition, a display230 (FIG. 4B), such as a liquid crystal display, can be provided at theSGM device for viewing by an individual (for example, someone who hasclimbed a power pole 36 (FIG. 4A) to look at the device) for a quickvisual indication of system data. The liquid crystal display has anumber of inputs LCDRS, LCDDB4, LCDDB5, LCDDB6, and LCDDB7 coupled tocorresponding outputs of the microcontroller. In response to signals onthe respective data lines, diagnostic and other data (e.g., the numberof openings and closings of the associated recloser) can be displayed.

FIGS. 5A-C illustrate an example of an SGM for a phone line monitoringdevice that transmits monitoring signals, such as via a landline, to asystem computer, such as a computer located remotely from the monitoringdevice.

With reference to FIG. 5A, the circuit 250 is designed to detect anoutage. In the illustrated example, the circuit detects the voltage onthe power lines such that when the voltage falls, an outage isdetermined to exist. The circuit is connected to the power lines at 252by respective wires 254, 256. In this example, the wires 254, 256 can beconnected between two phases of a plural phase power line with a typicalvoltage between the phases being 240 volts, although other voltages canexist. Alternatively, the circuit can operate between one phase of thepower line and neutral. A transformer 258 steps down this voltage to avoltage V_(a) of, for example, 12 volts AC. The voltage is rectified bya full wave rectifier 260 and charges two capacitors 262, 264. The lineVREF (266) is at a voltage level corresponding to the voltage across thecapacitors 262, 264. A zenor diode 268 limits VREF to a maximum, such as5 volts in one example. If the voltage rises or drops at V, this changeis reflected in the value VREF. The signal VREF is provided to amicroprocessor 270 (FIG. 5B) via an input 272 to an optical isolatorcircuit 273 having an output coupled to a voltage input 274 of themicroprocessor 270. The microprocessor 270 can be programed such asexplained below. One example of a suitable microprocessor is aPIC18LF2550 microcontroller.

Referring back to circuit 250 (FIG. 5A), the full wave rectifier 260 isalso coupled to a voltage regulator 280. A storage capacitor 282 iscoupled to the voltage regulator 280 for storing charge that is providedto a second voltage regulator 284 in the event power turns off. Thus, apower output 286 (PWR) that provides power for the circuit is capable ofpowering the circuit from capacitor 282 for a period of time after thepower turns off. In one example, capacitor 282 is 1.5 farads. Anothervoltage regulator 290 is also coupled to the rectifier 260 to provide apower output 288 for powering the circuit when the power is on.

The circuit 300 shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D is designed to use the phoneline to provide data signals to a remote computer that can be used totrack the outages. A first portion of the circuit 302 is designed todetect whether the telephone is on or off the hook. As previouslyexplained, if the telephone is off the hook, the circuit does not sendthe data and instead waits until the phone is back on the hook. In analternative approach, the phone line could be captured in the event ofan outage to immediately send outage data, although this is lessdesirable as it would interfere with the user's use of the telephone.

The phone line output on wires 304, 306 is fed to the circuit 300.Optical relays 308, 309 receive these respective phone line signals andisolate the phone power from the downstream circuit. The signals fromcircuits 308, 309 are rectified by a full wave rectifier 310 andprovided to a circuit 312 that produces an output at a frequency thatvaries to indicate whether the phone is on or off the hook. Circuit 312is comprised of transistors 314, 316 and 318. A capacitor 320 is chargedby the signals from the phone line. The transistors 314, 316 have theiremitters coupled to a capacitor 320 that is charged by the rectifiedsignals from the phone line. When the phone is on the hook, this voltageis typically 45 to 55 volts and drops to about 20 volts when the phoneis off the hook. When transistors 314, 316 and 318 are on, a strobecircuit 324 emits light until the charge on capacitor 320 is drained tothe level that the circuit is off and the strobe circuit 324 stopsemitting light. The capacitor 320 then recharges and the cycle repeats.When the phone is on the hook, the voltage from rectifier 310 is higherthan if the phone is off the hook. Therefore, when the phone is on thehook, the capacitor recharges faster than when the phone is off the hookand the FREF (Frequency Reference) output 328 from circuit 324 ishigher, indicating the on hook condition. FREF is lower when the phoneis off the hook, indicating the off the hook condition. Other on/offhook detection circuits can be used. A signal corresponding to FREF isdelivered to microcontroller 270 and can be used to determine whetherthe phone is on or off the hook. Also, the microcontroller can trackwhen an outage occurred from FREF and a time stamp for the outage andwill know the delay from waiting for the phone line to be returned tothe hook from FREF. From this information the real time of the event canbe determined by the central processor.

The upper portion of the circuit 300, indicated by the number 350, isdesigned to provide data to the phone line for delivery to a centralcomputer, such as at a utility company headquarters. In addition, in theillustrated embodiment this circuit 350 receives information back fromthe central computer that can be used to confirm the receipt of thedata, such as a check sum match. Circuit 350 comprises first and secondoptical relays 352, 254 that isolate the downstream portions of thecircuit 350 from the phone line power source. A DSL filter 356 can beprovided for filtering DSL signals from the phone line outputs.Consequently, the system can still communicate if the customer happensto have DSL service. As DSL becomes more and more obsolete, optional DSLcircuit 356 can be eliminated. A transformer 358 steps down the voltageto a level suitable for use in the system. The transformer 358 alsoprovides a galvanic break between the microcontroller and the phoneline. An audio amplifier 360 with a digital volume control (see AMP MODEand AMP VOL inputs) is provided. A signal on line 362 (FIG. 5D) isprovided to a DTMF CIRCUIT 364 to enable the chip for sending data atthe appropriate times. Data at inputs D0, D1, D2 and D3 provided fromthe microcontroller 270 (the corresponding outputs of themicrocontroller being similarly labelled) are translated to DTMF signalsfor transmission along the phone lines to the central computer. Thecircuit also comprises a DTMF receiver 366 for receiving signals backfrom the central computer which can be used to determine if the sent andreceived data matches, e.g., using a check sum or other verificationapproach. If no match occurs, transmission can be retried, for example,a plurality of times with seven being one example, to see if a check summatch can be achieved. If not, the data can be ignored.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an exemplary power grid monitoring systemwith a cell phone based monitor (SGM) installed. The SGM is indicated at400. The SGM logs specified data as determined by programming in amicrocontroller of the SGM. Information such as interval data (forexample the time between on and off power outages), events and synchingof events to real time with a call taker for time stamps, is provided toa cell phone circuit of the monitor indicated at 402. The cell phoneconnects to a router and wireless network 404 for delivery of data via aphone call to, for example, a web server 405. A call taker 406 listensfor incoming connections on an IP port of the web server (which can be aplurality of such ports). The call taker 406 receives data from theremote cell phone SGM. Data can be checked for validity and then loggedinto a text file 408, in this example. A call processor 410 checks fornew files, processes data from the new files and then can, for example,delete the files after processing. The parsed data from call processor410 can be delivered via a communication link 412 (wireless or by wire)to a server database indicated respectively at 414 and more specificallyto memory in a computer that stores the database. The server cancomprise a standard PC or other computer such as complete with adisplay, data input device (mouse, keyboard, etc.), memory and processorfor processing the incoming data. For example, the database can beprocessed to report and notify dispatchers of outages.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary electrical power grid monitoring systemwith a phone land line version of a monitor. The monitor circuitry isindicated in this figure at 420. The data is delivered via a landline422 to a call processor application 424. From call processorapplication, the processed data (like the case of call processorapplication 410) is delivered via a communication link 426 to a serverdatabase 428, which can be the same server and database as database 414in FIG. 6 and can process data in the same manner as database data isprocessed in connection with element 414 of FIG. 6.

An exemplary system architecture is shown in FIGS. 8A-8C.

The cell phone signals from the cell phone monitors 400 are deliveredvia an IP connection 402 to a conventional transmission controlprotocol/internet protocol listener 430. The listener can be a part of aserver 432 at, for example, a centralized processing location of autility company. Data files indicated schematically at 434 are fed fromserver 432, together with time stamp information from which the realtime of an event can be determined from the count of 60 Hz cycles sincethe event occurred provided the monitor 400. The data is fed to adatabase loader 436 from which the data is organized and loaded into asystem database 438. A firewall 440 prevents access to the utilitycompany's internal computers from external sources. Data is loaded intoa database 438 (FIG. 8B) to allows tracking of outage times andlocations, for example to a fine granularity, such as to the tenmillisecond level. This data can be used to verify reclosercoordination. It also can be used to diagnose recloser problems, such aswhether a relay or recloser remains open for a specified time beforereclosing (e.g., 2 seconds). The operation of the recloser relays can becompared to the specifications for the relays for diagnostic purposes.The data can be extracted from the database 438 and provided to anoutage management system (OMS) as indicated at 442 (FIG. 8B). The outagemanagement system 442 can poll the database for power off calls, forexample, on a periodic, ad hoc, or continuous basis. These polls areused in determining the existence of outages and for reporting theoutages to an outage management system portion of the system, forexample, to inform dispatchers of an outage. Momentary as well ascontinuous or sustained outages are reported in a desired embodiment.

An optional program can be provided for use in reporting and displayingoutage events in real time and for reporting such events on historicaldata. The reports and display can be used to provide an insight intosystem reliability and feeder protection coordination.

The database 438 can also provide information to a reporting application446 (FIG. 8B) which can be used to generate reports, such as to a publicutility commission, concerning outages and system reliability. Inaddition, the data from database loader 436 can be provided to adatabase 450 (FIG. 8C). A suitable database is a PI Data Historian (alsocalled a Plant Information System) from Oil Systems Incorporated. The PIData Historian in general stores data on a longer term basis for use bythe utility as desired. The PI Data Historian, also called a PlantInformation System is available from Oil Systems Incorporated. Forexample, the cell phone monitors can provide information on not only thevoltage outages but voltage changes. Consequently, this data can be usedto generate a feeder voltage profile at 452. The actual voltage profilefrom measured data can be compared with mathematical models of thefeeder to determine whether the feeder is performing as forecast. Inaddition, as mentioned above, the monitors can provide weather and otherenvironmental condition data. This data can be extracted from the DataHistorian by an application software program 454 for use as desired. Forexample, micro-weather conditions at specific pole locations can be usedto determine whether it is desirable to turn on or off windmills in apower generating wind farm. In addition, changes in the weather sweepingfrom one area of a distribution system to another area of a distributionsystem can be tracked and used to forecast, for example, changes inelectrical loads on the system. The Data Historian 450 can also becoupled to a search process, such as a searching software application456 labeled in FIG. 8C as PI Process Book. The PI Process Book comprisesa software program that allows users to search and extract the data inthe PI Data Historian and provide displays of selected data from the PIData Historian.

In the flow chart of FIG. 8A, the landline monitors are indicated at460. These monitors communicate via a landline, such as to a dedicated800 number indicated at 462 to a conventional PBX system 464. The PBXsystem can have any number of internal lines, with four internal linesbeing one specific example. The PBX system can roll the calls to anavailable line. The calls are then routed via the selected line,indicated at 466, to a modem board 468, with a four line dialogicfax/modem PCI board being one specific example in the case of a fourinternal line system. The information from the modem is passed to a linelistener, such as one ANSI C line listener 470 per line. The dataextracted by the line listener is provided in the form of an outputindicated at 472, such as a text file like the output 434 that providesthe raw data and time stamp in this example from a server 474 to thedatabase loader 436. The database loader 436 operates as previouslydescribed.

Exemplary software programs in pseudo code format and exemplary datafiles are set forth in the listings found at the end of the descriptionand prior to the claims; and as described below, set forth a specificexample of suitable programming that can be used for the variouscomponents of the system. The pseudo code will be understandable to oneof ordinary skill in the art. Only a brief discussion of certain aspectsof the code is set forth below. It is understood that the code disclosedin these listings can be modified, without departing from the inventiveprinciples disclosed herein.

Listings 1A-1H illustrate an exemplary firmware for the cell phonemonitor.

Listing 2 illustrates exemplary pseudo code for capturing data from anevent (e.g., an outage) in an exemplary land line monitor.

The programming of the microprocessor in the landline monitor will beunderstood with respect to Listing 2, that discloses an example of theresulting data as processed by a Line Listener 470. The microprocessor270 (FIG. 5B) is programmed to capture the data, in the example given inListing 2.

In the example of Listing 2, the first data point is indicated by datagroup A and assigned the number 2 in this example. This data group Aindicates the model number of the particular monitor. The next datagroup B identifies the call type. The call types in this example can beas follows: Power on (the system is rebooted); Outage call I (firststate on to off); Outage call II (first state off to on); and a TestCall (such as one per week).

The next data group C (five characters in this example) identifies theSGM device by ID number, from which the location of the device can bedetermined. For example, location data correlated to SGM IDs can bestored in a lookup table in the system database so that the location ofthe monitor from data group C can be determined from the lookup tableand monitor ID. The next data group D indicates how many cycles sincethe event began. Data group E indicates how long the event has been inthe identified state since it changed. This information can be used toadjust the real event time to within a fine granularity, such as within6 milliseconds to ten milliseconds.

Data group F indicates the state of the next event. If the value is fffethis means the event is still in the current state (off if it was off oron if it was on). If the sequence of events describing the outagecontinues to produce events the device will provide up to eight eventsin a single call. If more than eight events occur they will be capturedin the next call and so forth. Data group G (at ffff) means that eightevents have not yet occurred. Data group H is a check sum and Data groupI is a termination indicator with “a” indicating the termination of datarelated to the call. The time stamp in the data file is provided by theserver and is the time the call was received. The Line 1 text indicatesthat the call was received on Line 1 of the Dialogic Board.

The check sum in the above example is a value calculated based on thedata contained in the message. If the server calculation of the checksum does not match the check sum provided by the SGM the data isconsidered invalid and a call complete termination from the server tothe SGM will not be generated and the SGM will try again up to eighttimes. In the above system, in one example, if the user of the telephoneis still using the phone about 15 minutes after the event occurred, theevent is not captured.

Listings 3A and 3B illustrate exemplary pseudo code for one form of TCPport listener 430 in the system of FIG. 8A.

Listings 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D together illustrate exemplary pseudo code forone form of a line listener 470 of FIG. 8A. In this exemplary code, atlines 500 and 502, if an error is generated by the line listener orthere is an unexpected code result, the error can be trapped (e.g.,stored) and the phone call hung up. This is standard with such listenerboards from Dialogic. On the other hand, if the code is as expected, theincoming call is answered at 504 (Listing 4B). In the event an incomingcall is identified at 504, the procedure continues at the “answerincoming call” sub-routine. In these listings, the dialogic board errorhandling 500 (Listing 4C) and code error handling 502 (Listing 4D) cansimply involve printing the error as the appropriate reaction.

Listings 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D together provide example pseudo code for anexemplary database loader 436 of FIG. 8A. At line 520 (Listing 5B), ifthe system includes a PI Data Historian 450 (FIG. 8C), part of theprocess involves constructing a file name for PI Data Historian based ontime stamps. In one example, the file is reset after 180 calls to startover. Loop 530 of Listing 5B relates to loading data files obtained fromthe landline monitor data. Loop 540 of Listing 5C involves filesobtained from cell phone monitors.

Listings 6A and 6B set forth exemplary pseudo code for inserting eventdata (e.g., power on/power off data) into the database 438.

Listings 6C and 6D illustrate exemplary pseudo code for insertinginterval data into the database.

Listings 7A and 7B illustrate exemplary pseudo code for loading phoneand cell device event calls into the database 438.

Listing 8 illustrates exemplary pseudo code for loading phone linedevice power on calls into the database 438.

Listing 9 illustrates exemplary pseudo code in one example for loadingcell phone device interval calls into the database 438.

Listing 10 illustrates exemplary pseudo code for use in joining locationdata once the monitoring device identification is received. Thissub-routine is used to insure that collected data is not strandedbecause of lack of location information on the device. For example, themonitoring device may have been installed but the location of the devicemay not yet have been included in the system database when data isreviewed. Once the location of the device is included in the systemdatabase, the data that is collected prior to knowing the location ofthe monitoring device can then be entered into the database inassociation with the location and device.

Listings 11A and 11B disclose exemplary pseudo code for loading celldevice event calls into the system database.

Listings 12A and 12B illustrate exemplary pseudo code for loading cellmonitoring device interval calls into the database and into the PIhistorian if being used.

Listing 13A is an exemplary data file for indicating a “power is on”event in a cell phone monitor example constructed by a TCP Line Listener430. The first data line A in Listing 13A indicates the particularmonitoring device is a model 3, version 2. Data line B indicates the IDnumber of the monitoring device and thus its location can be determined.Data line C indicates the date and time of the event. Data line Dindicates the power status, namely power is on. Specifically, data lineD indicates the power is back on after having been powered down. If thepower had not been powered down, this line would have a different entry.

Listing 13B illustrates an example data file for the cell version of themonitor for an outage event. In this case, data line D has a code S8Tthat is an event call, indicating power has been lost. Data line Cincludes the time stamp.

Listings 13C and 13D illustrate an example data file for a cell versionof the monitor where multiple events have occurred. Again, the model andversion number of the device is indicated by the data in line A. Thedevice ID is indicated by the data in line B. The different states areindicated by the data lines E. In particular, data line F indicates thatthis data occurred 28.1 seconds before the time stamp. The zeroindicates that the event was the power turning off. The data line Goccurred at 27.410 seconds before the time stamp. The 1 at the end ofdata line G indicates that the event went on. The duration of the eventwould be the difference between 28.1 seconds and 27.410 seconds. Thelast event H (Listing 13D) is at the time stamp because the time is0.00. In addition, the 0 at the end of this line of data indicates thatthe power went off.

Listings 13E and 13F illustrate an example text data file with an error.In Listing 13D, as previously described, line A indicates the model andversion number and data line B indicates the ID number of the particularmonitoring device. The next four data lines referenced by C indicateaverage voltage readings at different times taken on Sep. 17, 2013, thetimes ranging from 14:36:35 to 14:49:32 with the voltages ranging downto 0.18 volts corresponding to an outage. The next four data lines D inthis figure indicate the maximum voltages on the particular line that isbeing monitored at the same times as for data lines C. The next fourdata lines E indicate the minimum voltages at the same sampling times.The next four data lines F indicate the external or ambient temperatureobtained from the temperature probe of a weather station at thesesampling times. The next four data lines G indicate the boardtemperature internal to the device at the sampling times. The next fourdata lines H indicate the backup battery voltage. The next four datalines I indicate the wind speed at these times. The next four data linesJ indicate the wind gusts (note, in this example I and J are zero, sincethere is no wind). The last line K indicates the wind direction (indegrees from North in this example). Data line L indicates the signalstrength from the cell tower system at a specified time. The data line Mindicates that an error has occurred and the nature of the error, inthis case the monitoring device shut down unexpectedly, event data lostand cell reported no carrier and a low battery.

Listings 13G and 13H are like Listings 13E and 13F, except no error hasbeen reported.

Listing 14 illustrates exemplary pseudo code for a test call for a landline monitor.

Listings 15A and 15B illustrate exemplary pseudo code for land line typemonitor device in the event of an outage, with the first state being anoff condition.

Listings 16A and 16B illustrate exemplary pseudo code for a land linetype monitoring device in the event of an outage call with the firststate being on.

Listings 17A and 17B illustrate exemplary pseudo code for reconcilingoutage events upon restoring power to the monitoring device.

EXAMPLES

The first four examples demonstrate the operation of a Smart GripMonitor (SGM) for monitoring an electrical distribution grid andenhancing the reliability of such power grid. The SGM supplies aDistribution Outage Monitoring system (DOMS) with sufficient data totrack voltage interruptions as defined in IEEE Std. 1159-1995. The lasttwo examples demonstrate the SGM's ability to supply sufficient data todetect sag/swell voltage activity. The system is capable of monitoringrecloser (including breaker activity) in near real time for bothelectronic and electromechanical devices. Tracking of momentary,temporary and long duration system variation as defined in IEEE Std.1159-1995 can be accomplished by the system of this disclosure. Inaddition, coupling of power quality/reliability data to weather dataenables the monitoring of additional parameters to aid in determiningexternal casual factors for events and to allow for analysis of systemperformance and system design practices.

The power grid itself can be modified for improved performance. Theexamples below show the unique ability of the device to track voltageevents. These examples are followed by statistical analysis examplesthat show how the SGMs provides a unique way to view power distributionsystem performance using parameters that no other existing systemsupplies.

Outage Detection Examples Example 1-Real Time Data for a SustainedOutage Event

The SGM can provide trip/close activity on an electrical distributionsystem in near real time. As an example, Table 1 below displays anoutage event that shows the trip/close sequence of events (SOE) that arecloser switch, and/or recloser in the form of a default clearingdevice used to clear the fault, as recorded by an SGM. This data, aswith all SGM data, was recorded and provided in near real time to systemdispatchers as the event occurred. This event was comprised of twotrip/close events followed by a device lockout for 46 minutes and 8.360seconds. In this example the recloser identified as R31 has an internalelectronic recloser data logger for logging data. However, the data fromthe internal data logger falls short of defining the event as is shownin FIG. 9, which provides a graphical presentation of the actual event.

TABLE 1 Device 70245 R31 Call Type Date Duration PWR Oct. 21, 201419:49:37.944 Continuing OFF Oct. 21, 2014 19:03:29.582 46:08.360 ON Oct.21, 2014 19:03:27.202 02.380 OFF Oct. 21, 2014 19:03:21.862 05.340 ONOct. 21, 2014 19:03:18.252 03.610 OFF Oct. 21, 2014 19:03:15.912 02.340

Example 2—Recloser Controller Lockout Report Vs. SGM Report

This is a second example showing that only the SGM provides thetrip/close sequence information in a near real time. Again, in thisexample as the events take place the data is being reported and storedin near real time by the SGM and DOMS. The data supplied by the internaldata logger of the recloser controller in this example required atechnician to drive to the recloser and retrieve the data, three daysafter the event. The evaluation required the use of software from therecloser manufacturer to interpret the data from the internal recloserlog. Additionally, the reason the data from the internal recloser logwas downloaded for this event was because the SGM data revealed that therecloser tripped (changed state) under this single-phasing condition.Without this notification from the SGM, there was no reason to lookbeyond the single-phasing event; and there was no indication that thesettings on the recloser allowed it to trip under these conditions.

The single-phasing event occurred in this example when the high-sidefuse on a substation transformer blew under load. The high-side in thisexample was a delta configuration. As a result of this configuration,there was an overvoltage condition on one phase while the other phasesexperienced an under voltage condition. When the fuse (recloser R41 inFIG. 9) first blew, the SGM reported the overvoltage condition as isseen in FIG. 10. The SGM is the only indication from this particularsubstation because this particular substation had no supervising controland data acquisition (SCADA) equipment. The recloser R41 tripped afterabout fifteen minutes into the single-phasing event and the SGM intervaldata indicates the voltage went to zero beyond R41. Table 2 belowdisplays the SGM state and timing of the recloser operation for thisspecific recloser tripping event. This trip information was sent by theSGM to the central system and resulted in a dispatch notification;resulting in a field investigation and repair.

TABLE 2 Device 70243 R41 Call Type Date Duration PWR Jul. 12, 201418:43:37.614 Continuing OFF Jul. 12, 2014 17:03:25.110 01:40:12.503

The recloser data retrieved by the technician consisted of three eventfiles. The first event file was for when the fuse blew. This eventcaused a high current to flow on phase C, which armed the controller.Once the first event file was loaded into the recloser vendor'ssoftware, we obtained initial information shown in FIG. 11. From FIG.11, it is apparent that the event took place at 16:48:04.531 and thatmultiple targets were triggered by the event. The SGM interval data fromFIG. 10 agrees with this timing. There is no voltage information relayedin FIG. 11.

To obtain voltage information from the actual internal recloser log, theactual recloser waveforms from the recloser were examined (shown in FIG.12).

Note that there is still only limited available data related to theactual voltages involved; and only one control voltage is presented. Thelines at the bottom of FIG. 12 are where one would locate the trip/closestate of event for an actual “trip/close” event. These represent thebinary logic that this particular device uses to send its trip signals.In order to see the “Root Mean Square” (RMS) data related to the event,one can use a Phasor Diagram tool. This is a “replay” tool that willwalk each cycle shown in FIG. 12 to show the RMS values as well as thephasor rotation. FIG. 13 shows the first cycle information while FIG. 14show the voltage levels at the last cycle, which should be roughly thephase voltage at the recloser after the fuse blows.

From FIGS. 13 and 14, one can determine that prior to the event therewas 7.2 kV/7.2 kV×120=120 Volts before the fuse blew. This agrees withthe SGM data shown in FIG. 10. At the end of the recloser “arming”event, the voltage was 4.4 kV/7.2 kV×120=66.7 Volts. This indicates thatthe control voltage was not on the overvoltage phase seen by the SGMmonitoring the recloser R41. However, this agrees with other SGMs onthis system that were also on the same phase as the recloser controller,e.g. a separate SGM, identified as BKR_SGM, recorded 69.3 Volts near thestation for this phase. However, this is the end of the data for thisevent. We can only assume that this 66.7 Volts remained until the nextcontroller arming event. The next event occurred when the recloserfinally opened. The recloser data for this final trip event can beopened, and is shown in FIG. 15.

In FIG. 15, it is apparent that a recloser “arming” event occurred at17:02:29.408. From the SGM data, one knows that recloser R41 opened at17:03:25.110 (seen in Table 2) as time stamped by the server usingTCP/IP time syncing. Therefore, one would expect this to be the eventthat shows the tripping of recloser R41. To examine this, the waveformdata from the recloser was obtained as shown in FIG. 16.

As can be seen in FIG. 16, the currents flowing through recloser R41 areinterrupted and also that several targets were active. A furtherexamination would be needed to determine which target actually causedthe trip. However, in FIG. 16, one does not see the voltage go to zero.The voltage supplied to the recloser control is from the source side andtherefore it does not reflect the voltage condition on the load side ofthe device. Often one would just assume that, since no current isflowing through the recloser, the load side voltage is zero. For mostcases this is true, however with the expanding penetration ofDistributed Generation (DG) this may not always be the case, especiallyif edge of grid technologies are employed in the future that allowislanding.

The next event that would be collected by the recloser controller wouldoccur when the device is put back into service after the repairs aremade at the station where the recloser blew. The above process can beused to view subsequent data files to verify that the system isthereafter running normally.

As can be seen by this example, the use of electronic recloser data canprovide some of the information the SGM and DOMS provides. However, theextended time needed for an evaluation, and the limited amount ofvoltage data related to the load side of the recloser, pale incomparison to that supplied by the SGM and DOMS. The recloser controlleris design to collect data for the reconstruction of faulting events.Therefore, its main focus is on current flows beyond the device, not onthe voltage quality beyond the device. The SGM and DOMS are designedwith power quality in mind. Voltage quality is a true indication ofpower grid performance. It is the voltage that is used to allowcustomers to draw current to produce work. If that voltage is not withinthe correct parameters, the customer's equipment will not functioncorrectly, or may be damaged. With an exemplary SGM, reporting of theexact state of events for outages, both sustained and momentary, as wellas voltage event data within minutes of the event, with DOMS beingoperable in a desirable system example to send loss of voltageinformation to dispatch for outage notification, distribution systemreliability is improved. The SGM interval voltage data also providesinformation on voltage sag/swell conditions. The disclosed SGMs canprovide this data not only for electronic reclosers and fuses, but alsofor hydraulic reclosers and fuses, that have no electronic control. TheSGM's can also be used for non-SCADA stations for a fraction of the costof installing electronic controllers or SCADA systems; which SCADAsystems, even if used, fail to supply the level of voltage data seenfrom the SGM. This is not to mention the weather data available fromSGMs with weather station components; which can be seen from the nextexample.

Example 3—Momentary Outage with Wind Information

This is an example of a momentary event captured by two meter base SGMspaired with one cell based SGM with wind data. The event was seen by thethree SGM devices on the feeder because the fault was in the protectionzone of the station breaker coupled to the feeder. The station breakeropened for 2.350 seconds to clear a fault. The state of event (SOE)information for the event is shown in Table 3 below. FIG. 17 illustratesan example of how the cellphone enabled SGM measures the weather data aswell as the station event for the event shown in Table 3. Again, this isa unique function of the SGM with a weather station as it can providemillisecond resolution of the event with each voltage transition,between “ON/OFF” system states, and allowing capturing of local weatherconditions, in this case how the wind speed were increasing, at the timeof the event. Wind speed can, for example, be determined as the averagewind speed over a single time period and the wind gust can be determinedas the maximum wind speed during the sampling period. The samplingperiod can be varied, such as very short, such as one to five minutes.As can be seen from FIG. 17, a trip occurred when the wind gust exceed40 mph. If the momentary outage repeated itself or became worse whenwind gusts exceed 40 mph, then the SGM and system provides an indicationof a wind associated problem (e.g., tree branches brush across the lineswith such wind gusts), which enables proactive addressing of the problem(e.g., tree branch pruning in the area monitored by the SGMs) prior toan extended outage.

TABLE 3

Example 4 SGM Momentary Outage Detection Vs. Voltage Data Collection

Shown in FIG. 18 is an example demonstrating how voltage monitoringalone will not achieve the outage monitoring abilities of the SGM. FIG.18 shows that the sampling resolution of typical voltage measurementdevices makes them impractical for identifying short duration outages.Although all voltage measurements indicate that the voltage did actuallygo to zero, there is no indication of the actual duration of the event;and, if multiple momentary trips occur, they are also lost. This exampleis a 2.770 second outage used to clear a fault. The SGM state of eventdata for this event is shown in Table 4 below. FIG. 18 shows thecomparison of the measured voltages to the actual event on the system.

TABLE 4 Device 70259 R8 Call Type Date Duration ON May 28, 201416:07:13.715 Continuing OFF May 28, 2014 16:07:10.945 02.770

The events in Examples 1-4 demonstrate the SGM's data collection formomentary and sustained event tracking, the SGM can also be used toprovide insight into the sag and swell power quality parameters definedby IEEE Std. 1159-1995. The examples below demonstrate an exemplary SGMsunique capability to aid in tracking these parameters.

Sag/Swell Detection Examples Example 5 Outage Detection and with FaultCurrent Causing an Overvoltage

FIG. 19 is an example of a non-three phase fault that occurred on theelectrical power grid system. The exemplary SGM provided the data toshow how the un-faulted phases reacted to the system fault. In addition,the SGM revealed that the resolution of the data collection from thestation breaker status into the PI data historian failed to indicatethat the station breaker cleared the fault. The only tool that providedthe correct information related to this fault was the SGM. Table 5 belowshows the actual state of event information from the SGM for the breakeropening to clear the fault.

TABLE 5 Device 70374 BKR Call Type Date Duration ON Jun. 20, 201410:04:57.759 Continuing OFF Jun. 20, 2014 10:04:55.689 02.070

Example 6 SGM Detection of Regulator and Capacitor Operations

As a result of the method employed in the programming of an exemplarySGM for voltage measurements, the SGM can also detect system Volt/VarOptimization (VVO) issues. The SGM can have an Over/Under Voltage alarmto log this information to aid in addressing potential low voltage areasin a distribution system. During testing, it was surprising to seetemporary Over Voltage conditions several times a day at one of the SGMlocations being reported by a one second Vmax measurement from the SGM.FIG. 20 shows a portion of the Vmax trend from the device. To determinethe source of these over voltage events we installed a conventionalpower quality monitor on the leads supplying voltage to the SGM.

Once the power quality monitor was installed, the source of the overvoltage events was determined. These were due to the switching of a 1.2MVAr capacitor bank on the system. FIG. 21 shows detailed informationindicating how the system was operating during one of these events. TheSGM reporting indicated there was a Volt/Var coordination issue on thisfeeder that caused a Load Tap Changer (LTC) in a voltage regulator onthe feeder to operate as much as five times every time the capacitorbank was switched. This information is not available from any othersingle voltage measurement on the system. The SGM's provided visibilityto these system interactions by simply monitoring a single phase systemvoltage.

Statistical Analysis Examples

Using the data provided by the SGM an electrical power distribution gridcan be statistically analyzed. FIGS. 22 and 23 illustrate how windspeeds are associated with an increase in outage activity on a powerdistribution system. The wind speed and the outage data are suppliedSGMs with weather stations. Therefore, the wind speeds are local to thedevices that tripped, and are actual speeds essentially in real time. Itis intuitive that higher winds result in a higher probability of anoutage. However, the SGM data provides information on how much higherthat probability is, and at what wind speeds they become relevant. Alsothe SGM allows the identification of microclimates (e.g., particularpole locations subjected to higher gusts) enabling such locations to beproactively designed for higher wind loading.

FIG. 24 shows how the probability of an outage is also increased basedon wind direction. Based on current data set information, the power gridoperated by Idaho Power Company has a slightly higher probability of anoutage when the wind is coming from the Northeast.

FIG. 25 shows the probability of an outage based on temperature. Thereis a slightly higher probability of an outage during extreme heatingconditions.

The above examples illustrate the uniqueness of the exemplary SGMs andof systems utilizing such SGMs. In a desirable form, the SGMs can bepositioned at each recloser (e.g., recloser, breaker or fuse) so as tocollect the SOE for every outage event on the system. The addition ofembodiments with localized weather data and tracking of voltage data,such as in a Maximum/Minimum/Average format delivered by the SGM, allowsthe DOMS to identify system fluctuations that are missing in knownsystems. A power distribution system with SGMs provides enhanced powerquality monitoring and reduces down time to fix problems by moreprecisely identifying the power problems and their locations. The SGMsare suitable for use in monitoring of automated recloser in theelectrical distribution system whether they have electronic controllers.The monitoring reclosers provides accurate timestamps and reveals systeminteractions that otherwise may not be readily detected.

In view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of thedisclosed invention may be applied, it should be recognized that theillustrated embodiments are only preferred examples of the invention andshould not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention.

We claim:
 1. An electrical power distribution system for distributingelectrical power through power transmission lines, the systemcomprising: a power line distribution section comprising first andsecond power lines supported along their length by a plurality of spacedapart power poles, a plurality of such power poles carrying transformersthat are coupled to the power lines to provide secondary power to endusers of power, the distribution section comprising a plurality ofreclosers in each of the first and second power lines carried byrespective power poles, the reclosers being positioned at plurallocations along the length of the first and second power lines, anupstream recloser being a recloser that is closer to a source of powerfor a specific location in the distribution system where voltage isbeing monitored and a downstream recloser being a recloser that isfurther from the source of power for the specific location at whichvoltage is being monitored, the reclosers being operable to shiftbetween a closed state in which electric current flows through therecloser and an open state in which electric current does not flowthrough the recloser; a plurality of recloser status monitors for eachof the first and second power lines and carried by respective powerpoles, the recloser status monitors each comprising a voltage monitoringcircuit comprising a first input coupled to the first power line and afirst voltage output at which a first voltage output signal is providedthat corresponds to the voltage at the first power line and thereby tothe open and closed status of a recloser through which current flows tothe location where voltage of the first power line is being monitored bythe voltage monitoring circuit, the voltage monitoring circuitcomprising a second input coupled to the second power line and a secondvoltage output at which a second voltage output signal is provided thatcorresponds to the voltage at the second power line and thereby to theopen and closed status of a recloser through which current flows to thelocation where voltage of the second power line is being monitored bythe voltage monitoring circuit, wherein the voltage monitoring circuitcomprises an RMS voltage circuit and wherein the first and secondvoltage outputs correspond to the RMS voltage over time at therespective first and second power lines; the recloser status monitorcomprising a microcontroller comprising a first voltage receiving inputcoupled to the first voltage output and a second voltage receiving inputcoupled to the second voltage output, the microcontroller providingvoltage data signals corresponding to the first and second voltageoutput signals over time and time data associated with the voltageoutput signals, including voltage data signals corresponding to an eventthat causes the recloser to open and then reclose one or more times inresponse to the event and then reclose following the event, the voltageoutput signals indicating the open or closed status of the reclosersthat are upstream from the location at which voltage is being monitoredby the voltage monitoring circuit; and the recloser status monitor alsocomprising a cellphone circuit having an input coupled to themicrocontroller and to the direct current voltage output, the cellphonecircuit being operable in response to the control signal from themicrocontroller to place a cellphone call to a recipient location and totransmit the voltage data signals and the time data to the recipientlocation, including the voltage data signals corresponding to openingand reclosing the recloser during the event and the reclosing of therecloser following events that do not result in a power outage.
 2. Asystem according to claim 1 wherein the each of the recloser statusmonitors comprises a power circuit comprising a transformer having aninput for coupling to at least one of the first and second power linesso as to receive power from said at least one of the first and secondpower lines; the transformer having a first alternating current output,the power circuit comprising a first full wave rectifier coupled to thetransformer outlet and operable to convert the first alternating currentoutput to a direct current voltage output; the voltage monitoringcircuit, the microcontroller, and the cell phone each being coupled tothe direct current voltage output.
 3. A system according to claim 1comprising a server at the recipient location for receiving the voltagedata signals and the time data, which indicate a power outage, includingan intermittent power outage; the powerline distribution system havingmeters that report power usage to the recipient location; and theserver, in response to the power outage, pinging meters downstream of orproximate to the location of the power outage and identifying metersthat do not reply to the pings as locations of possible additional poweroutages.
 4. A system according to claim 1 wherein at least one of therecloser status monitors carried by a power pole further comprises aweather station having an anemometer operable to measure wind speed, theweather station having a weather data output at which wind speed signalsrepresenting the measured wind speed are provided, the microcontrollercomprising a weather data input coupled to the weather data output, themicrocontroller providing wind speed indicating data corresponding tothe wind speed signals, and thereby to the measured wind speed overtime, the cellphone circuit also being operable to transmit the windspeed indicating data to the recipient location.
 5. A system accordingto claim 4 wherein the wind speed indicating data also comprises windgust data.
 6. A system according to claim 4 wherein the weather stationhas a wind vane operable to measure wind directions, the weather stationhaving a weather data output at which wind direction signalsrepresenting the measured wind direction are provided, themicrocontroller providing wind direction indicating data correspondingto the wind direction signals, and thereby to the measured winddirection over time, the cellphone circuit also being operable totransmit the wind direction indicating data to the recipient location.7. A system according to claim 4 wherein the weather station furthercomprises an ambient temperature detector operable to measure theambient temperature, ambient temperature signals representing themeasured ambient temperature being provided at the weather data outputand thereby to the microcontroller, the microcontroller providingambient temperature indicating data corresponding to the ambienttemperature signals and thereby to the measured ambient temperature overtime, the cellphone circuit also being operable to transmit the ambienttemperature indicating data to the recipient location.
 8. A systemaccording to claim 1 wherein the electrical power distribution systemincludes a capacitor bank and the voltage data signals indicate pluraltap changes in response to switching of the capacitor bank in the powerdistribution system.
 9. A system according to claim 1 wherein the firstvoltage output signal corresponds to the voltage at the first power lineand the second voltage output signal corresponds to the voltage at thesecond power line, and wherein the time data associated with the voltageoutput signal is at a granularity that enables the determination of thetime of the occurrence of voltage changes to within six to tenmilliseconds of the actual occurrence of such voltage changes.
 10. Anapparatus for monitoring and reporting the operation of reclosers in anelectrical power distribution system having power lines that are openedand closed by the reclosers, the apparatus comprising: a power circuitcomprising a transformer having an input for coupling to the power linesso as to receive power from the power lines; the transformer having afirst alternating current output, the power circuit comprising a firstfull wave rectifier coupled to the transformer outlet and operable toconvert the first alternating current output to a direct current voltageoutput; a recloser status monitor coupled to the direct current voltageoutput and to one of the power lines, the recloser status monitorcomprising a voltage monitoring circuit coupled to said one of the powerlines, the voltage monitoring circuit having a voltage output at which avoltage output signal is provided that corresponds to the voltage atsaid one of the power lines, the recloser status monitor having a powerinput coupled to the direct current voltage output; a microcontrollerhaving a voltage receiving input coupled to the voltage output, themicrocontroller providing voltage data signals corresponding to thevoltage output signals over time and time data associated with thevoltage output signals, the voltage output signals indicating the openor closed status of the recloser, including voltage data signalscorresponding to an event that causes the recloser to open and thenreclose one or more times in response to the event and then reclosefollowing the event, the microcontroller being coupled to the directcurrent voltage output, and the microcontroller providing a cellphonecontrol signal; and a cellphone circuit having an input coupled to themicrocontroller and to the direct current voltage output, the cellphonecircuit being operable in response to the control signal from themicrocontroller to place a cellphone call to a recipient location and totransmit the voltage data signals and the time data to the recipientlocation including the voltage data signals corresponding to opening andreclosing the recloser during the event and the reclosing of therecloser following the event.
 11. An apparatus according to claim 10wherein the voltage monitoring circuit comprises an RMS voltage circuitand wherein the voltage output corresponds to the RMS voltage over timeat said one of the power lines.
 12. An apparatus according to claim 10further comprising a weather station having an anemometer operable tomeasure wind speed, the weather station having a weather data output atwhich wind speed signals representing the measured wind speed areprovided, the microcontroller comprising a weather data input coupled tothe weather data output, the microcontroller providing wind speedindicating data corresponding to the wind speed signals, and thereby tothe measured wind speed over time, the cellphone circuit also beingoperable to transmit the wind speed indicating data to the recipientlocation.
 13. An apparatus according to claim 12 wherein the wind speedindicating data also comprises wind gust data.
 14. An apparatusaccording to claim 13 wherein the weather station has a wind vaneoperable to measure wind directions, the weather station having aweather data output at which wind direction signals representing themeasured wind direction are provided, the microcontroller providing winddirection indicating data corresponding to the wind direction signals,and thereby to the measured wind direction over time, the cellphonecircuit also being operable to transmit the wind direction indicatingdata to the recipient location, wherein the weather station furthercomprises an ambient temperature detector operable to measure theambient temperature, ambient temperature signals representing themeasured ambient temperature being provided at the weather data outputand thereby to the microcontroller, the microcontroller providingambient temperature indicating data corresponding to the ambienttemperature signals and thereby to the measured ambient temperature overtime, the cellphone circuit also being operable to transmit the ambienttemperature indicating data to the recipient location.
 15. An apparatusaccording to claim 10 in combination with a power pole of an electricalpower distribution system and wherein the apparatus is mounted to anupper end portion of the power pole.
 16. An apparatus according to claim10 mounted to a power pole at a location downstream from a recloser andcoupled to the power line controlled by the recloser to measure thevoltage on such power line at a location downstream of said recloser.17. An apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the apparatus furthercomprises a backup battery circuit for coupling to the power lines, thebackup battery circuit comprising a backup battery power output coupledto the recloser status indicating current, coupled to the weatherstation current, coupled to the microcontroller and to the cellphonecircuit.